Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
What had felt like a schoolgirl crush that night in Austin now felt like an insatiable need.
And that was a dangerous thought to have about my brother’s teammate — especially when we were both in the car on our way to the same place as my brother.
I groaned internally, sinking down in my seat and scribbling another spiral.
Jaxson wouldn’t even look at me.
I was over here dreaming up what could happen the next time we were together, and he was probably sitting in sticky, hot regret.
What if he drops me at the airport and that’s the end of it?
What if it’s over?
What if he goes home after the tournament… without me?
The possibility — and likelihood — of that made my stomach roil, and I shifted in my seat, shutting the notebook and tossing it down to the floorboard along with my pen.
I had to say something.
But before I could, my brother’s name lit up the screen on the SUV.
This time, it was Jaxson’s phone that was hooked up, and we both stared at where the screen said TANNY BOY like we were guilty criminals walking into our trial.
Jaxson cleared his throat, pushing the call to voicemail and promptly turning the volume up when the music started to play again.
I was so sick by the time we pulled up to the airport, I thought I was going to actually puke as I got out of the car on shaky legs. Jaxson rounded to the back before I could, retrieving my luggage and rolling it up to me.
There were a million emotions washing over his face, but I couldn’t read a single one of them.
“Are you sure—” he started, but I quickly shook my head and waved him off.
“My parents are already on their way. Go. I’ll see you there.”
He nodded, turning like he was going to get back in the car.
But then he stopped, his back rigid, shoulders tight. He stood there for a long moment, each breath coming harder than the last. Slowly, he turned to face me again, his brows bent, eyes searching mine.
“Fuck it,” he said.
Then he pulled me into his arms, swept my hair from my face, and kissed me.
My eyes shot open wide, because I was fairly certain I had blacked out and was dreaming. But one tender caress of that man’s hand at the nape of my neck had me melting, my eyelids fluttering shut, and I threaded my arms around his shoulders.
We both exhaled a breath with that kiss, long and slow and pained. When I opened my mouth, Jaxson’s grip on me tightened, and he held me to him as his tongue swept in to touch mine, tightening every nerve in my body all the way to my core.
He pressed his forehead to mine — which he could only do because he still held me off the ground — and his eyes were closed, the muscles working under his jaw.
He was kissing me goodbye.
“Grace, last night was—”
“Reckless,” I finished for him, nodding my agreement even as the moment shredded me from the inside out. “A mistake.”
Jaxson pulled back then, frowning before he carefully sat my feet back on the ground.
“Reckless, maybe,” he agreed. “But not a mistake. And neither of those descriptions was what I was going to say.”
Hope kicked in my chest like a wild mustang. “It wasn’t?”
He sighed, tucking my hair behind my ear, his eyes following that motion. He seemed to be cataloguing every inch of my face.
“It was incredible,” he whispered. “Filthy,” he added with a grin, his eyes raking over me as my skin burned beneath the gaze. “But incredible.”
There was that kick again, accompanied by a flurry of butterfly wings tickling my stomach.
And I realized then that hoping he felt the same for me was more terrifying than assuming he didn’t.
“I don’t know what happens next,” he admitted, swallowing. “But… I know I don’t want this to end. Not yet.”
Oh, yes.
This was much, much scarier.
“Stop flirting with me, Brittzy.”
The joke was barely a whisper as I said it, my nerves wound so tight they strangled it on the way out. But Jaxson laughed, and that sound made my next breath a little easier to take.
“I don’t want it to end yet, either,” I said, leaning into his palm. “I’m having too much fun.”
He nodded, sighing another breath like he’d been just as torn up about the thought of this road trip ending as I had been.
“But today…”
“Trust me — I don’t want my brother to find out any more than you do,” I assured him.
He looked almost green at that, but he nodded again. “Let’s just stick to the game plan, and we’ll talk tonight. Yeah?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Okay.” He released me, but before he could go, I grabbed his hand and pulled him back to me.
“Kiss me one more time,” I said. “Just so I know it’s real.”